Special Coverage

The reactor uses a directed 60-GHz source, which may require far less power to observe the same reactivity profiles.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
In industrial synthetic chemistry laboratories, reactions are generally carried out using batch-mode methodologies, stepwise reactions, and purifications to generate a final product. Each step has an associated yield of both the reaction itself and of the final purification that is largely dependent on the procedure being used, and the scientist carrying out the procedure. Continuous-flow reactors are one way of streamlining the process. Furthermore, microwave-enhanced, or microwave-assisted, chemistry has been demonstrated to aid in many of these areas; however, scaling has been a traditional problem with this technique.

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland
A document discusses the Ultra Compact Cloud Physics Lidar, a biaxial lidar with a narrow receiver field of view. It requires tight optical alignment between the transmitter and receiver paths while flying on various aircraft over various temperatures and in the presence of vibration. To achieve optical crossover as close to the lidar as possible, the transmit and receive telescopes must be built very closely to each other.

These fuel cell systems can be used for remote power generation, transportation applications, or in offshore wells.
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
The goals of this research are to develop a relatively inexpensive, compact, and modular power package for deep offshore oil drilling or other undersea applications that provides 2 to 5 MW electricity, minimal maintenance, and at least 30 years of life.

John F. Kennedy Space Center, Florida
Orbiting a large number of satellites in fixed formations will be critical to many future space missions, especially large-scale interferometers, telescopes, antennas, and gravity wave detectors. Consequently, extensive research has been devoted over the last 20 years to formation flying architectures, concentrating not only on the mission objective, but also on the technologies required to achieve a stable satellite formation. Several proposals have been suggested for determining the location of the satellites, but the more difficult problem is developing a system that can hold the satellites at those desired locations and orientations. The two most common solutions are to use microthrusters, though these require propellant and will eventually be depleted, or to choose orbital patterns that minimize relative perturbations, but for highly precise positioning, this is not adequate. Neither of these approaches solves the problem for long-duration missions such as a multi-element telescope where the mirrors must be located and oriented to a tolerance less than an optical wavelength.

Thermal protection technology used on the shuttles keeps valuables safe from fire.
Most of us cannot comprehend the task of building something to withstand temperatures over 4,000 °F, but NASA can. The space shuttles endured such temperatures when returning to Earth’s atmosphere because of aerodynamic heating, or heating due to the combination of compression and surface friction from Earth’s atmosphere. For the vehicle to survive these conditions, NASA constructed a complex thermal protection system (TPS) for the exterior of the shuttle.

Based on solid-state technology, the sensor requires no reagents and can be refreshed with an ultraviolet diode.
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Nanosensors have been developed for chemical detection using carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Unlike other chemical sensors, this solid-state approach requires no reagents and can be refreshed with a solid-state ultraviolet (UV) diode. The sensors possess high sensitivity (ppbv), fast response (≈2 s), high selectivity, low power (μW), and very small size (1 cm2 or less based on advanced miniaturization), and they are ideally suited for integration with wireless networks or cellphone type devices.

Question of the Week

This week's Question: Last week, Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla, said that the electric car maker would introduce autonomous technology, an autopilot mode, by this summer; the technology will allow drivers to have their vehicles take control...